With their impressive 116-108 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night at Toyota Center, the Houston Rockets (32-12) improved to 17-0 when they have the trio of guard James Harden, guard Chris Paul and center Clint Capela in the starting lineup. Despite a horrendous shooting performance in which he went 2-of-14 from the field and 0-of-9 from three-point range, Houston shooting guard Eric Gordon was all smiles and feels the Rockets have a great chance to take down Golden State in a seven-game playoff matchup.
Via a tweet from Tim MacMahon of ESPN:
“We really do have that chance,” Gordon said after Saturday night's game. “Offensively, we're just as good as them, no question. Defensively, they're a championship team. They're consistent, whether they win or lose. Us, we still have peaks and valleys. We just can't have those. That's why we've got to play well the next game because we just have to sustain the same effort.”
Eric Gordon sort of echoes what Capela said in a separate interview in which the big man one-ups Gordon's assessment by saying that the Rockets are better than Golden State.
Although they were a bit shorthanded due to the suspensions of small forward Trevor Ariza and shooting guard Gerald Green following their roles in an altercation with the L.A. Clippers, the Rockets' trio of Harden, Paul and Capela were outstanding against the Warriors.
This was especially so on defense in the fourth quarter, as Houston held Golden State to just 17 points.
Paul led all scorers on the night and nearly had a triple-double with 33 points on 10-of-20 shots from the field, 11 rebounds, seven assists and three steals. Harden finished with 22 points and a team-high eight assists, while Capela had 18 points, five rebounds, and four steals.
The Rockets, who have Sunday off, will host the Miami Heat on Monday night in search of their third consecutive victory.
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